


Let the People Vote

by BlankLiterature



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-23
Updated: 2014-10-23
Packaged: 2018-02-22 07:10:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,311
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2499116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlankLiterature/pseuds/BlankLiterature
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After 30 years, the people of Storybrooke decide they need to have a regularly elected Mayor. Regina loses - to Mary Margaret - and is not happy at all; Emma tries to cheer her up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Let the People Vote

**Author's Note:**

  * For [amycarey](https://archiveofourown.org/users/amycarey/gifts).



Emma was at a complete loss. She had spent the last few days trying to cheer her girlfriend up – or at least calm her down – in every single way she could think of, from ice cream to brownies to doing all the chores for her to simply leaving her be so she could release her anger somehow... She had even bought a dummy online for Regina to throw fireballs at.

And yet, absolutely none of that had worked the slightest bit. The brunette was still just as angry as she had been the very moment that she got the news that she was no longer the Mayor of Storybrooke. The citizens had voted – in the first elections that town had had in approximately thirty years and, considering that the Enchanted Forest was ruled by monarchs, the first elections of all those people's lives – and had elected Mary Margaret as their new mayor instead.

The blonde was actually not even sure about what part of those news had made her girlfriend the angriest, if losing her post, or being replaced by none other than her nemesis. Out of everyone who could have won, no one else would get such a strong negative reaction out of Regina.

The worst thing – for Emma, at least – was that it had been literally her mother against her girlfriend. And they had already been having enough trouble with both those relationships without electoral disputes to make things even more tense. In the end, the sheriff was torn between the the two other women, not knowing who to cheer for, who to support, who to vote for, and being pressured from both sides.

And of course, the results coming out had not made that much better at all. The only thing that changed was that Emma was now torn between being happy for her mother and being angry at her for taking her girlfriend's position. That, and the fact that she now had to deal with a constantly grumpy and very angry Regina, while still very much being her mother's daughter and, thus, the closest Charming-family-member target Regina could find to snap at. And the blonde had literally exhausted all of her ideas (or at least all of her non-death-wish ideas) to try to put an end to that, leaving her with only pep-talking as an option... and she was actually not completely sure that pep-talking was _not_ included in the death-wish category. Still... that was exactly what she was trying to do.

"Regina, don't be like this... It's not the end of the world, you know?" Emma pleaded with the other woman, who was furiously washing the dishes as if they had been the ones to personally attack her. As a response, she got a surly look and an annoyed sigh. "As if you would know."

"Oh, come ON! You lost the elections, so what? It's not as if we had been cursed or anything..."

It was meant to be a joke, of course, but the death glare on the brunette's face showed her it hadn't worked exactly as she had hoped it would.

"I lost the elections to your insufferable mother of all people. That is public humiliation." Regina punctuated every other word with a furious stroke of the brush on the pan she was scrubbing. The younger woman mused to herself that, at that rate, the pan might actually bend; but of course, she kept herself from making any comments about that, for the sake of her physical integrity. Instead, she simply let out an exasperated sigh, her hip resting on the kitchen counter. This was not working at all either.

"Geez, what is it about you two? I honestly thought you were starting to get closer, to mend things... You can't possibly still be mad at her after all this time, 'Gina... I really think you have to-"

" _D_ _on't_ you dare!" Regina half hissed, half yelled before the sheriff could even get to finish her sentence. Because she knew what was coming. As soon as Emma started speaking that sentence, she knew exactly where it was leading and how it would end. Still, not even her interruption was able to stop it. It was too late.

"- let it go, let it go! Can't hold it back anymore. Let it go, let it goooo! Turn away and SLAM the door! I don't care what they're going to say. Let the people vote... the elections never bothered me anyway!"

The blonde made grand gestures to accompany her surprisingly good singing voice and give more emotion to the performance, keeping her eyes closed through it and also presenting purposefully exaggerated facial expressions to add one more layer to it.

If Regina hadn't been so absurdly furious, she might have even enjoyed watching that. Even as it was, however, she could still find it mildly amusing – mostly on account of the original ending. She tried her best to keep a straight face – God forbid she allowed her anger to subside the smallest bit – but still a small smirk found its way to the corner of her lips. This did not go unnoticed by the other woman, who grinned victoriously.

"Thank you for your unfathomable wisdom, dear. Unfortunately, it does not compensate for me _losing my job_."

"Dammit, Regina! You've been mayor for, like, 30 years or something! Isn't that enough?"

The younger woman was becoming very frustrated with her girlfriend's antics. That performance had been literally her very last idea... and it had also failed. And she was very sure she had seen Regina at least smirk, so she knew very well that it _would_ have worked if the other woman had allowed it to, instead of talking herself into being angry all over again.

"Well, where I come from, power positions are lifelong, for one. So no, it is not enough. Also, I can hardly see how I could have been mayor for 30 years, since I am only 24, my dear." Even though her face remained serious and strict, there was a humorous glint to the woman's eyes as she said that, and although she would hate to admit it, her fury was indeed starting to fade the slightest bit.

Emma squinted at her lover. "Okay, there is no way in hell that you're 24 – even if we don't count the years of the curse. There's no way you're younger than me – _and_ than my mother!"

Of course the blonde knew her partner was lying – even if logic had failed her, her ability to know when someone was lying never, ever failed with Regina. Still, focusing on that, questioning her age, teasing her for it would at least be a distraction and a break from the actual issue.

"Your mother lies about her age just to make people think I am older." The tiniest of smirks found its way to the brunette's lips, and Emma had to smile at that implication, and wink at her partner before chanting: "Liar, liar, pants on fire! Careful, or I might make that actually happen now that you taught me..."

Regina widened her eyes for a moment, and quickly glanced down to make sure her suit pants were still intact. Upon realizing nothing had been set ablaze just yet, she threw a mock-glare in her girlfriend's direction. "Oh, dear, I am not sure that would work at all."

The blonde looked confused, wondering if the older woman was underestimating her new-found magic, but with the older woman's next sentence, she figured that was not exactly what she meant. "You see, whereas you might be able to create fire now, I have something else..."

Emma meant to retort, to ask what that "something" was, but before she could even get a single word out of her mouth, she promptly received her answer – a splash of water right on her face.


End file.
